Shraman Bhagavan Mahavira and Jainism

By:Dr.Ramanlal C. Shah

Published ‑ Jain
Society of Metro Washington

Shraman Bhagavan
Mahavira and Jainism

JAINISM

Jainism is one of the
greatest and the oldest religions of the world, though it is not known much
outside India.Even in India, compared
to the total population of India, Jainism at present is followed by a minority
of the Indian population amounting to about four million people.Yet Jainism is not unknown to the scholars
of the world in the field of religion and philosophy, because of its highest
noble religious principles.

Though followed by
relatively less people in the world, Jainism is highly respected by all those
non‑Jainas who have studied Jainism or who have come into contact with
the true followers of Jainism.There
are instances of non‑ Jaina people in the world who have most willingly
either adopted Jainism or have accepted and put into practice the principles of
Jainism.Though a religion of a small
minority, Jainism is not the religion of a particular race, caste or
community.People from all the four
classified communities of ancient India; Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and
Shudra have followed Jainism. In the principles of Jainism, there is nothing
which would debar a person of any particular nation, race, caste, community,
creed, etc., from following Jainism.Hence Jainism is a Universal Religion.

The followers of
Jainism are called Jainas.The word
"Jaina" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Jina."One who follows and worships Jina is called
a Jaina.Etymologically
"Jina" means the conqueror or the victorious.Those who have conquered all their passions
and have attained perfect liberation of their soul from the cycle of birth and
death are called "Jina."

A "Jina" who
spirituality leads and guides his followers is called
"Tirthankara."According to
Jainism the time is cyclic.One cycle
of time, consisting of six parts of ascendance and six parts of descendance,
has more than millions of million years, and in one such ascendance or
descendance of cycle, there are twenty‑four such Tirthankaras.In the present cycle of time, the first
Tirthankara is Bhagavan Rishabhadeva or Adinatha and the last Tirthankara is
Bhagavan Mahavira.

THE JAINA CONCEPT OF SOUL

In order to understand
fully the Jaina concept of the soul and the process of attaining emancipation
of the soul from the cycle of birth and death, i.e., Moksha, it, is essential
to know the form and nature of nine elements, viz., Jiva, Ajiva, Punya, Papa,
Asrava, Samvara, Nirjara, Bandha and Mokha, which are explained in much detail
in the Jaina scriptures.

According to Jainism,
the universe is composed of six substances, viz., Jiva (the Conscious), Pudgala
(Matter), Dharma (which helps motion), Adharma (which helps to rest), Kala
(Time) and Akasha (Space).Of these six
substances, Pudgala, Dharma, Adharma, Kaia and Akasha are grouped under Ajiva,
the unconscious.Thus, the universe is
composed of two main substances, Jiva and Aiiva.

Of all the substances,
Jiva is the most powerful substance.It
is consciousness which is the essence of the soul.Souls are of two classes:Emancipated (Mukta) and Embodied or Worldly (Baddha or Samsarin).

Jainism believes that
there is life not only on this earth, but also on other planets and even beyond
the solar system, i.e., in the whole universe.The Jaina concept of the Cosmos is given in detail in the Jaina
scriptures.

Jainism believes that
the universe is without a beginning and without an end.The universe has always existed and will
exist forever. There is nothing but infinity, both in the past and in the
future. However, the universe is continuously undergoing countless changes.
These changes are effected by the powers of the six substances, but in essence
there is permanence in these changes, because the substances have three vital
characteristics, viz.

Utpada (Origination)

Vyaya (Decay)

Dhrauvya (Permanence)

Jainism believes in
plurality of soul, i,e., every living being has a soul.Not only human beings and animals, even
trees, plants, bacteria and microscopic viruses have souls.There is life even in mud, water, air, fire
and light, which we cannot see with the naked eye or with the most powerful
microscope.Jainism has classified 8.4
million different species of life in the universe.

All living beings,
whether big or small, has a soul.All
souls are equal.The soul is
independent, eternal, immortal and invisible.It cannot be cut, it cannot be burnt, it cannot be melted, and it cannot
be dried up.At the end of life the
body dies, but not the soul.The soul
transmigrates to another life.It moves
from life to life and expands or contracts according to the size of the body of
the living being.The soul thus keeps
on transmigrating from life to life, unless and until it liberates itself from
the cycle of birth and death.When it
attains liberation or salvation, i.e., Moksha or Nirvana, it has never to enter
again into the cycle of birth and death.In order to achieve this highest goal of Moksha, Jainism explains the
Law of Karma and shows the Path of Moksha.

THE LAW OF KARMA

The world is full of
joy and sorrow.Some people are happy
and some are unhappy all throughout their life.Some people are happy or unhappy for some time.A child is born without eyes and ears, A man
saves his life miraculously in a plane crash.A saint is murdered.A murderer
enjoys all his life without being detected.When we ponder over all such and so many other incidents happening
around us, we are puzzled.We ask ourselves,
"Is there justice in this world?If there is, why should such things happen in this world?Is not God cruel and unjust?Is there any rule or law which decides all
these things?"To this Jainism
answers, "Yes.There is a law
which decides and explains all these things.It is the Law of Karma (i.e.The
Law of Deeds or Actions)."

According to Jainism,
the Law of Karma leads us to believe in the theory of rebirth, which explains
all that is inexplicable about such incidents.

With this Law of
Karma, Jainism explains why there are joys and sorrows, happiness and
unhappiness, prosperity and adversity, equalities and inequalities in the
world; why one person is rich and the other is poor; why one is intelligent and
the other is dull; why two persons do not have similar face, figure, voice,
fingerprints, etc.

According to Jainism
there are eight types of Karma and whatever happens to any living being at any
time is due to the nature and intensity of the relevant Karma, either as result
of an old Karma of the previous or the present birth or is due to a new Karma
which is being produced.These eight
types of Karma are

(1) Jnanavaraniya
(Regarding Knowledge)

(2) Darshanavaraniya
(Regarding Faith)

(3) Vedaniya
(Regarding Experiences)

(4) Mohaniya
(Regarding Attachment)

(5) Aayu (Regarding
type of Life and Age)

(6) Nama (Regarding
different physical and other attributes)

(7) Gotra (Regarding
Family)

(8) Antaraya
(Regarding obstacles in different activities of life).

Of all these Karmas,
it is most difficult to conquer the Karma of attachment because of anger, ego,
infatuation, greed etc.When the body
dies the soul transmigrates to another life with the remaining Karma.

Jainism believes that
the soul is an independent and the most powerful substance and therefore the
soul itself can liberate itself from the bondage of Karma.This could be done by adopting the right
path of liberation or the path of Moksha.

THE PATH OF MOKSHA

Right Knowledge, Right
Faith, and Right Conduct are the three most essentials for attaining Moksha,
liberation.

In order to acquire
these, one must take the five great vows:

1. Ahima (Non‑injury)

2. Satya (Truth)

3. Asteya (Non‑stealing)

4. Brahmacharya
(Celibacy)

5. Aparigraha (Non‑acquisition)

Among these five vows
"Ahimsa" is the cardinal principle of Jainism and hence it is called
the highest religious principle or the cornerstone of Jainism.

AHIMSA (NON‑INJURY)

Bhagavan Mahavira has
said that all living beings desire life and not death.Therefore no one has a right to take away
life of any other being.Therefore
killing of life is the greatest sin.There are people who believe in not killing human beings, but they do
not mind animals being killed.According to Jainism, killing of animals is also a great sin.Jainism goes still further and says that
there is life in trees and plants, and there is life in air, water, mold etc.,
and all living beings have an equal right to exist.Therefore we should not kill life of even lower or lowest
state.Life is dearer to everyone and
therefore we must have respect for life.Not only "Live and let Live" but "Live and help others in
living" should be our principle.Just as a head of the family looks after the welfare of the family
members, a human being, who enjoys the highest place in the evolution of life,
should look after the welfare of the other lower living beings.

Jainism further says
that sometimes you may not kill a living being, but may speak something which
may hurt the feelings.Sometimes you
may not kill a living being, but you may think of killing it. Therefore you
also commit sin when you speak hurting words or the moment you start thinking
of killing some life.Hence, according
to Jainism, the sin is committed not only by action, but by speech and by
thought also, which again is threefold.i.e.,

(1) you may commit sin
yourself or

(2) you may ask
someone to commit sin on your behalf or

(3) you may support or
praise the sin committed by someone.

Hence one should
refrain from committing this nine‑fold sin.

The universe is full
of living beings, big and small, and therefore it is impossible to exist
without killing or injuring some of the smallest living beings.Some lives are killed even when we breathe
or drink water or eat food.Therefore,
Jainism says that minimum killing should be our ideal.Moreover, it is more serious where killing
is done intentionally or through indifference.Therefore great care should be taken in all our daily activities so that
minimum violence is committed by our deeds, speech and mind.

In the universe, there
are different forms of life, such as human beings, animals, insects, trees and
plants, bacteria, and even still smaller lives which cannot be seen even
through the most powerful microscope.Jainism
has classified all the living beings according to their sense organs, i.e.,
having five senses, four senses, three senses, two senses and one sense.It is more serious if life of the highest
form is killed.Therefore Jainism
preaches strict vegetarianism and prohibits flesh‑eating.

Jainism firmly
believes that life is sacred irrespective of caste, color, creed or nationality
and therefore not only physical or mental injury to life should be avoided, but
one should have all possible kindness towards all the living beings.This should be the spirit of Ahimsa.

SATYA (TRUTH)

To speak truth
requires moral courage.Only those who
have conquered greed, fear, anger, jealousy, ego, vulgarity, frivolity etc.,
can speak the truth when required.Jainism insists that one should not only refrain from falsehood, but
should always speak the truth which should be wholesome and pleasant.

ASTEYA (NON‑STEALING)

The vow of Non‑Stealing
insists that one should be honest and should not steal anything or rob others
of their wealth, belongings, etc. Further, one should not take anything which
does not belong to him. It does not entitle one to take away a thing which may
be lying unattended or unclaimed.One
should observe this vow very strictly and should not touch even a worthless
thing which does not belong to him.

BRAHMACHARYA
(CELIBACY)

Total abstinence from
sex‑indulgence is called Brahmacharya or Celibacy.Sex is an infatuating force which obscures
the right path of Moksha and sets aside all virtues and reason at the time of
indulgence. This vow of controlling sex
passion is very difficult to observe in its subtle form, because one may
refrain from physical indulgence but may still think of the pleasures of
sex.There are several rules laid down
for observing this vow, both for monks and for householders.

APARIGRAHA (NON‑ACQUISITION)

Jainism believes that
the more a person possesses worldly wealth, the more he may be unhappy and the
more he is likely to commit sin, physical and mental, because worldly wealth
creates attachments which would continuously result in greed, jealousy,
selfishness, ego, hatred, violence, etc.Bhagavan Mahavira has said that wants and desires have no end and only
the sky is the limit for them.

Attachment to worldly
objects results in the bondage of the cycle of birth and death.Therefore, one desirous of spiritual
liberation should withdraw from all attachments to the pleasing objects of all
the five senses.

This Jaina principle
of limited possession helps in equitable distribution of wealth, comforts, etc.,
in the society.Thus Jainism helps in
establishing socialism, economic stability, and welfare in the world.

............

Jainism has laid down
and described in much detail these five great vows for the path of Moksha.These are to be observed strictly and
entirely by the monks and nuns.Partial
observance is laid down for the householders with additional seven vows.There are other thirty‑five rules of
conduct laid down for the householders.

In addition to these
five great vows, Jainism has laid great stress on the following four
reflections (Bhavana), and ten‑fold code of conduct.

Four Reflections:

Amity (Maitri)

Appreciation (Pramoda)

Compassion (Karuna)

Equanimity
(Madhyastha)

Ten‑fold Code of
Conduct:

(1) Forgiveness

(2) Humility

(3)
Straightforwardness

(4) Truthfulness

(5) Purity of mind

(6) Control of senses

(7) Penance

(8) Renunciation

(9) Greedlessness

(10) Chastity

Jainism has thoughts
of the gradual evolution of the soul and has described fourteen stages
(Gunasthana) for the liberation of the soul. With the help of the above‑mentioned
vows and virtues a soul can gradually liberate itself and attain Nirvana,

ANEKANTAVADA

The principle of the
Anekantavada or Syadvada is a very valuable contribution of Jainism to world
thought.This doctrine is also known as
the theory of Relativity or the Philosophy of Non‑absolutisim or the
philosophy of Relative Pluralism.This
principle teaches us how to realize truth in its varied aspects.

Bhagavan Mahavira has
said that every substance has infinite attributes or qualities and different
attributes may be seen through different angles.Just as a coin has two sides or a prism has many sides,
similarly, every substance or situation has many aspects which could be seen
from more than one side.A man may be
son of a father and father of a son or he may be someone's brother or nephew or
uncle or brother‑in‑law, or grandfather or grandson and so on.The town in which you stay is in the south
for the people of the north and is in the north for the people of the south and
so on.Therefore every substance or
situation should be looked from different angles in order to realize the truth
underlying its different aspects.It
helps us to understand the view‑points of others.If a person ignores various other angles or
view‑points of an object or situation, and sticks to one particular angle
or view‑point, he will never realize truth in its varied aspects.

Thus, Anekantavada
teaches us that the kingdom of truth can be reached through different
ways.It also teaches us that we should
not impose our own thoughts or views on others, but should try to reconcile
with the thoughts or view‑points of others.This principle, therefore, if earnestly put into practice shows
us how to remove our short‑sighted, selfish and partial outlook.It shows us how to remove discord and
disharmony and establish concord and harmony in life, by being catholic and
tolerant in our outlook and attitude towards others.

The principle of
Anekantavada should be applied to every field of life.It show's us how to respect candid opinions
of all free thinkers of the world, and, therefore, the roots of modern
democracy could be traced in this Jaina principle.It establishes unity in diversity.It promises reconciliation of divergent or conflicting
statements, thoughts, ideologies, systems, religions etc.The principle of Anekantavada, therefore,
can be a great instrument to peaceful co‑existence and unity in the
world.

Thus Jainism believes
in the right faith, right knowledge, right conduct, non‑injury,
truthfulness, non‑stealing, celibacy and non‑adultery, non‑acquisition
of wealth, amity, appreciation, compassion, equanimity, forgiveness, humility,
straightforwardness, purity of mind, control of senses, mercy, penance,
renunciation, greedlessness, chastity, respect for other's view‑points,
etc.In short Jainism has advocated for
all the best virtues required for peaceful and happy living for all the living
beings and also required for the liberation of the soul from the cycle of birth
and death. Jainism has thought of every possible situation in life, has
elaborately analyzed them and has guided the followers of all categories
towards the right path.

Let us end with one of
the daily prayers of Jainism:

I forgive all the
living beings and let all the living beings forgive me.I have amity with all and enmity with none.

Let all the living
beings be happy.Let all the living
beings be busy in making others happy.Let the evils disappear from everywhere and let the whole world be
happy.